Aubrey Jackson: The Lightening Thief
by Ash the Maverick Hunter
Summary: What if Percy had a younger sister? Well, this is what would happen! I looked at the book and wrote this at the same time. It was hard typing and reading at the same time. I'm doing the whole book. No cursing! This is told from Aubrey's POV! Enjoy! On, and please review if you like it! It helps me out!
1. I Accidentally Vaporize My Math Teacher

I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON, I ONLY OWN Aubrey Jackson. THAT'S ALL

I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER

Look, I didn't WANT to be a half-blood.

If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: Close this book right now. Believe what ever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, you get killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before THEY sense it too, and they'll come after you.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

My name is Aubrey Jackson. My brother's name is Percy Jackson.

I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, Percy and I were a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Are we troubled kids?

Yeah. You can say that.

I could start at any part in my short miserable life to prove it, but things started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know-it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But, Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading the field trip, so, Percy and I had high hopes.

Mr. Brunner is this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had a thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool,but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher who didn't put Percy and me to sleep.

I'd hoped this field trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

Boy, was I wrong.

See bad things happen to Percy and me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, Percy had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon, and I, well, I kidda, hit the bus with an empty cannon. I wasn't aiming for the bus, but, of course, Percy and I got expelled anyway, because he hit the bus too. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scene tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of fell and hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and the class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.

This trip, Percy and I were determined to be good.

All the way to the city, I put up with David Bobfit, Nancy's freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac twin brother, trying to get me to go on a date with him. Percy had the better end, at least he couldn't SMELL Nancy. All she was doing was throwing peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich chucks at poor Grover. Okay, maybe he has it just as bad.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must of been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because of some muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should of seen him run it was enchilada day in the cafe.  
Anyways, while Nancy terrorizes poor Grover, I can see clearly Percy wanting to crush Nancy's skull. Grover had at least forty different chucks of sandwich in his curly, brown hair. But, I knew Percy couldn't do anything about it, because he was on probation. The headmaster threatened Percy personally with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," Percy mumbled.

I got up and moved three seats ahead. Now, I clearly was blocking Nancy from Grover because I was sitting next to her. Percy was widen eyed when I mouthed "You owe me big time!"

Percy sat down and kept glancing back at me every now and then. "Move you big dope!" Nancy threatened. I saw Percy's hand curl into fists. "I will when pigs fly," I replied calmly. I couldn't let Percy get himself in trouble again.

Looking back on it, I should of let Percy beat her to a pulp right there and then, because in-school suspension would've been nothing compared to what mess Percy and I were getting into next.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. I stayed close to Percy and Grover. I didn't trust the second teacher, our math teacher, Mrs. Dodds. God, she had it out to get Percy and me. Mostly me.  
Mr. Brunner rode up in the front, guiding through the big, echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blew Percy's mind, knowing this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. I was pretty impressed too.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grace marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. We were trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time Percy and I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give us the the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia, who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker, She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy and David Bobofit and figured Percy and I were devil spawns, She would point her crooked figure at me when Percy wasn't around and say, "Now honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to be dusting chalk boards for a month after school.

One time, she made me clean the female locker room until midnight, Percy told Grover he didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He would look at Percy and me, real serious, and say, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.

FInally, David Bobofit (or who's last name I call Baboon), snickered something to Nancy Baboon about something having to do with the naked girl and boy on a stele behind us, and Percy turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" before I could stop him.

Sadly, it came out louder than he'd meant it to.

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

Percy's face turned crimson. I couldn't stand it. I was not letting Percy get expelled. "No sir!" I spoke up, "I don't." Percy gave me a stunned look.

Mr. Brunner eyed me and pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" I was in deep trouble now.

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because, luckily, I knew this one. "That's Kronos eating his children, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."

"Well, uh..." I shook my head to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.

"Titan," I corrected myself. "And...he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But, his wife his baby Zeus on Crete, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus was older, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"

That got a reaction from some girls. "Eew!" said one of them, while the others snickered. I hoped I wasn't blushing.

"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and Titans," I continued, pretending I hadn't heard them. Percy gave me a concerned look. "And the gods won."

Some kids snickered, making my face brighten.

Luckily, Nancy, being the idiot she and her brother are mumbled to her possy, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'."

"And why, Ms. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's (Baboon) excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered.

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hairs.

At least Nancy was getting caught, too. Mr. Brunner was the only teacher who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I thought hard about his question, coming up with the most stupidest answer. But, it was one. "Maybe, because, what if it's all real?" I shrugged. "What if all the monsters, and heroes, and gods actually exist?" The group broke into a laughing fit. I looked down and clenched my fists hoping I wasn't blushing too hard.

"Very good answer," Mr. Brunner replied, a smirk on his face. Grover even had a small grin. Great, even my favorite teacher and friend thought I was a moron. "Well, Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and inwe, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him into pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in the Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. I wanted to cry. What I had said was so stupid, even Mr. Brunner had laughed.

Grover, Percy and I were about to leave, Percy holding my hand in comfort, when Mr. Brunner said, "Ms. Jackson."

I knew that was coming.

Percy glanced at me and I gave him a not-so-reassuring reassuring smiled, telling them I'd meet up with them. They left hesitantly. Then, I turned to Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could of been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"That was a very good answer to my question," he told me. I blinked in surprise.

"About the Titans?"

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh. Thank you then."

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you Aubrey Jackson."

Okay, that compliment was just wash down the drain like left over toothpaste. I wanted to be anger at him. This guy pushed Percy and I so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on the tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!: and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But, Mr. Brunner expected Percy and me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that we have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just could memorize all those names and facts, much less spell them right.

I mumbled something about keeping at it, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been to this girls' funeral.

The class gathered at the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New Yrok had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, floodingm wildfires from lightening strikes. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Which, we'd better get inside again.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy and David were trying to pickpocket something from these two old ladies's pursesm and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.

Grover, Percy and I sat on the edge of the fountain,, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freask who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I replied. "Not from Mr. Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm no genius. But, he doesn't ease up. Like he's expecting me to fight one of these things."

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Percy kept glancing at me, Nancy, and then Mrs. Dodds. For a second, I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, instead, he said, "Can I have your orange?"

I didn't have much of an appetite, so, I let him have it. I also spotted Percy's apple.

"You okay, Percy?" I asked. Percy nodded and stared at the passing cabs. I followed his lead and started watching the on going of cabs down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so badly to jump into a taxi, grab Percy and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed in me, too, for running off. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and was probably going to be kicked out, again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look on her face and I'd probably start to cry.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while reading a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe' table.

I was about to unwrap my brownie when Nancy and David Baboon appeared in front of me with her ugly possy-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourist-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. "Oops." She grinned at Percy with her crooked teeth, while David grabbed my wrist and pulled me up with his meaty, fat hands. Nancy's freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I tried to stay calm and break free from David's monster grip, while Percy growled softly. The school counselor had told Percy a million times, "Count ti ten, get control of you temper." But, I guess his mind was so empty with madness, he couldn't remember. I swear, I saw steam coming from his ears. "Percy! Don't!" I called as he thrust his hands forward as I pushed on David's hand.

I don't remember ever even touching David, because I would of been washing my hands for a week, but, the next thing Percy and I knew, Nancy and David were sitting squished in the fountain, screaming their head off with, "Percy pushed me!" or "Aubrey pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds, being the creepy person she is, materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"

"-the water-"

"-like it grabbed her-"

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that Percy and me were in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure that poor little Nancy and David the Babbons were okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the gift shop, etc., etc., she turned to us. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if we'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now honey-"

"I know," Percy grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."

"And, a month washing the girls' stalls," I added.

That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me! I pushed her!"

We stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for us. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. "And what about the boy?" she asked. "Uh..."

Grover couldn't have done both.

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.

"But-"

"You-will-stay-here."

Grover looked desperately at Percy, then me.

"It's okay, man," Percy told him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now!"

Nancy and David the Baboons smirked.

Percy gave her his deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then, we turned to face Mrs. Dodde, but, she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at us to come.

I glanced at Percy. He looked at me. "How did she get there so fast?" the look on his face asked.

Percy and I have moments like that a lot, when our brains fall asleep or something, and the next thing you know, you've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out in of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told us it was part of the ADHD, mt brain misinterpreting things.

I wasn't so sure now.

We went after Mrs. Dodds, hand in hand, gripping each other tightly.

Halfway up the steps. Percy glance back at Grover. I looked to and was shocked to see Grover looking pale, his eyes cutting between us and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. I held tighter.

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared (yet again). She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I thought. She's going to make us buy the Baboons' new shirts at the gift shop.

But apparently that wasn't the plan. We followed her deeper into the museum. When we finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like a growling. I took a step back.

Even without the noise, I would of been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacherm especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

We did the safe thing. We replied with a, "Yes ma'am."

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you two would get away with it?"

The look in her her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt us.

I said, "We'll-we'll try harder, ma'am."

Thunder shook the building.

"We are not fooled Aubrey and Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

We didn't know what she was talking about. I didn't. I glanced at Percy. He had the same dumbfounded expresion.

All I could think of wad that the teacher must of found our illegal stash of candy we'd been selling out of our dorm rooms. Or maybe they'd realized that I got my essay on Pollyanna from the Internet without ever reading the book and now were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Ma'am, we don't..."

"You time is up," she hissed.

Then, the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her figures stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice us to ribbons. But, to me, it wasn't much of a difference.

Then, things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen and a watch.

"What ho, Aubrey and Percy!" he shouted, tossing the watch and pen into the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunged at us.

With a yelp, Percy and I dodged, and I felt talons slash the air next to my shoulder. I grasped the watch out of the air, but, when it hit me, it wasn't a watch anymore. It was the silver/bronze bow and arrow that I saw in the back of Mr. Brunner's class one day. Up close, it had a bronze and silver pointed tip, with a smaller version on the tail. It was held by three inch wood. I glanced at Percy to see he had Mr. Brunner's bronze sword that he used on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spun towards Percy with a murderous look in her eyes. Percy's knees dropped to jelly by the looks of it. His hands were shaking so bad, I could see the sword quivering.

She snarled, "Die honey!"

I saw the meaning of terror then. Percy was frozen. But, he did the natural thing: he swung the sword.

The metal blade hit her right leathery wing. It crumbled into gold dust. Hiss! But Mrs. Dodds was still standing.

Just before she was about to lung again on my older brother, I shoot an arrow straight at Mrs. Dodds's ugly head. The arrow whizzed off the bow, like I've been doing archery for years, and hit Mrs. Dodds with perfect precision on the neck. The rest of her crumbled to dust. Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powderm vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those glowing red eyes still watched us.

We were alone.

There was the watch in my hand.

Mr. Brunner wasn't there, Nobody but Percy and I.

My hands were trembling as I fell to my knees. Percy ran over, and checked me. I did the same. "I think someone play a sick prank and put something in out food," I commented. Percy nodded in agreement,

Had we imagine the whole thing?

Not the two of us at the same time.

We went back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head, Nancy and David Baboon were still standing over therem\, soaked from their swim in the fountain, grumbling to themselves and their ugly friends, When she saw us, she said, "I hope Mrs, Kerr whipped your butts!:

Percy replied, "Who?"

"Our teacher! Duh!"

We blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.

She just rolled her eyes and turned away.

We walked up to Grover. Percy asked where Mrs. Dodds was.

Grover asked, "Who?"

But, he paused first, and wouldn't look at either of us, so we thought he was messing with us.

"Not funny man," Percy told him. "This is serious."

Thunder boomed overhead.

I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.

I walked over and beckoned Percy to follow.

He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen and watch. Please bring your own things in the future Mr. and Ms. Jackson."

We handed Mr. Brunner the pen and watch. I realized I forgotten I had been holding it.

"Sir," I asked, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared at us blankly. "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concern. "Percy, Aubrey, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?" 


	2. Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR Aubrey Jackson

THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH

We were used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. Even Percy was getting freaked out. For the rest of the years, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on Percy and me. The students acted as if they were completely convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman who neither Percy or I have ever seen in our life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

Every so often Percy or I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if we could trip them up, but, they would stare at me like I was psycho.

Percy and I almost believed the-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost.

But Grover couldn't fool Percy. I don't see them very often, but, he's in Percy's classes, so Percy knows him well. When Percy would mention Mrs. Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But, Percy knew he was lying. Heck, I knew he was lying.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but, at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat. Percy would call me, and say the same thing.

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in Percy's dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hundson Valley wouch down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.

Percy started getting cranky and irritable most of the time. I was getting annoyed more easily too. But, I kept it under control for the most part. His grades started slipping from Ds to Fs. He got into more fights with the Baboon twins and their friends. I had to break up most of the fights with him. He was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. When I'd ask him if something was wrong, he'd snap at me and storm off. I knew he didn't mean it, but, still, it hurt.

Finally, I heard a rumor saying when Percy's English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked him why he was too lazy to study, he snapped. He called him an old sot, what ever that is.

Then, the headmaster sent our mom a letter the following week, making it official. Percy would not be invited back the following year to Yancy Academy.

He said, fine. Just fine.

He was just as homesick as me.

I knew he wanted to be with our mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if he had to go to public school and put up with our obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.

And yet, I knew he would miss some things at Yancy. Like, the view of the woods outside his dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. He'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was kinda strange. I was worried how he would survive the next year without him. But, I'd miss him the most. I'd be here, all alone, besides Grover, who I never even see, and I'd have to deal with the Baboon twins for year.

He'd miss Latin class too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith we could do well.

As exam week got closer, I noticed Percy was studying for Latin. I tried to join as often as possible, but, he would swat me away like an annoying fly. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being a life-or-death for me. Apparently, he'd told Percy the same thing. We weren't sure why, but, we started to believe him.

The evening before our finals, I heard a loud bang, coming from across the hall. I ran out my dorm and walked into Percy's to find he'd thrown the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across his dorm. He told me the words had started swimming off the page, circling his head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. I picked the book up, and sure enough, the same thing. There was no way either of us were going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Poludeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.

I asked him if I could help, knowing he needed it very bad, but, he shoved me away, just like all those times before.

I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will only except the best from you and your brother, Aubrey Jackson.

"Maybe you should ask the teacher for help, Percy?" I offered. He glanced at me and nodded. He took a deep breath and picked the book up. I knew he'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if he talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give him some pointers. I hated acting like the oldest sometimes. I knew he didn't want to leave Yancy without him knowing he tried.

Percy walked out of the room and towards the faculty offices. I followed him from a few meters (yards) behind. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner;s door was ajar, light from the window stretching across the hallway floor. He was three steps from the handle when he heard something inside. I sat next to him. He looked at me and I signaled to be quiet. A voice that was definitely Grover;s said "...worried about Percy and Aubrey, sir."

We froze.

Usually, we aren't eavesdroppers, but I dare you to try not to listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.

We inched closer. "...alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now we know for sure, and they know too-"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunners said. "We need the boy to mature more." We glanced at each other. They made it sound like I was more mature. Which, I guess I kinda was.

"He may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can. Aubrey is the closest to the truth than she may know."

"Sir, they saw her..."

"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough ti convince him of that."

"But what about Aubrey? Sir, I...I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly, "I should of seen her for what she was. Now, let's worry about keeping them alive until next fall-"

The mythology dropped out of Percy's hand and hit the floor with a thud.

Mr. Brunner went silent.

My heart was hammering. Percy picked up the book and backed down the hall. I followed him.

A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner;s office door, the shadow of something taller than our wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that suspiciously looked like an archer's bow.

Percy opened the nearest door and we slipped inside.

A few seconds later we heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside our door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could of sworn..."

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Don't remind me."

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

We waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.

Finally, we slipped out into the hallway and made our way to our dorms.

Percy opened the door, and shut it mostly. I peeked in. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.

"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for the test?"

Percy didn't answer.

"You look awful." He frowned. :Is everything okay?"

"Just...tired."

Percy turned so he couldn't read his expression, and started getting ready for bed. I turned and walked to my dorm. I had my dorm to myself, since the girls were odd and no one wanted to bunk with me.

I didn't understand what I heard downstairs. Percy probably didn't either. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.

But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about Percy and me behind our backs. They thought we were in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my head full of all the misspelled Greek and Roman names I'd spelled. Mr. Brunner called Percy and me inside.

For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about our eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

"Percy, Aubrey," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's...it's for the best."

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me, Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could still hear. Nancy Baboon smirked at Percy and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. But then, I realized something. "Sir, I wasn't kicked-expelled," I replied.

"I asked the principal and he said you were to leave as well. I mean..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

Percy mumbled, "Yes, sir."

My eyes stung with tears.

Here, our favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling us we couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me we were destined to be kicked out.

"R-right," I whispered, trembling.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say...You're not normal Aubrey and Percy. That's nothing to be-"

"Thanks," I blurted, surprising Percy. I never did that. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."

"Aubrey-"

But I was already gone.

On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.

The other girls were gossiping, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going to Paris to shop. Another was redecorating her room with one of the world's top fashion designers. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.

They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city with Percy.

What I didn't tell them was that Percy and I were going to have to get summer jobs walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.

"Oh," one of the girls said. "That's cool."

They went back to their little chat as if I'd never existed.

The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but, as it turned out, I didn't have to. Neither did Percy. He'd booked the same Greyhound as us, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, Percy and I always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally, and apparently, Percy couldn't stand it anymore.

He said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

I face-palmed myself, while Grover nearly jumped out of his sear. "Wha-what do you mean?"

Percy confessed about eavesdropping, careful to not mention my name, and Mr. Brunner the night before the exams,

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh...not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"

He winced. "Look, Percy...I was worried for you and Aubrey, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers..."

"Grover-"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you guys were overstressing or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and..."

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."

His ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just that this, okay? In case you need me this summer."

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on Percy and my dyslexic eyes, but, I made out something like:

Grover Underwood Keeper Half-Blood Hill Long Island, New York (800) 009-009

"What's Half-"

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um...summer address."

My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy. Apparently, Percy was thinking the same thing.

"Okay," he said glumly. "So, like, if we want to come visit your mansion."

He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."

"Why would we need you?"

It came out harsher then Percy had meant it to.

Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you two."

We stared at him.

All year long, Percy had gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. He'd lost sleep worrying he'd get beaten up next year without him. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended us.

"Grover," he said, "what exactly are you protecting us from?"

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.

We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't breakdown there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering in afternoon heat, was an old-fashion fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of an apple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.

I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them, The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric blue yarn.

All three woman looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thin was, they seemed to be looking right at me.

I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His noise was twitching.

"Grover?" Percy said. "Hey, man-"

"Tell me they're not looking at you. Either of you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah," I replied, slightly worried.

"Yeah,. Weird huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."

The old lady in the middle took out a large pair of scissors-gold and silver, long bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

"We're getting on the bus," he told us. "Come on."

"What?" Percy said. "It's like a thousand degrees in there."

"Come on!" He pried the door opened and climbed inside, but, Percy and I stayed back.

Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear the snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue sicks, leaving me to wonder who they could possibly be for-Zeus? Maybe Godzilla?

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.

The passengers cheered.

"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu. Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering, his teeth were chattering. Percy was white pale and seemed distant.

"Grover?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you not telling us?"

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, Aubrey, what did you see at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like...Mrs. Dodds, are they?" Percy replied.

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."

"I saw the middle one take out these large scissors, and she cut the yarn. But, I could hear the yarn snap from where I stood," I answered.

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his figures, that might of been crossing himself, but, wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.

He said, "You saw her snip the cord."

"Yeah. So?"

But, even as Percy said it, I could tell he also knew it was a big deal.

"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing on his thumb. "I don't want it to be like the last time."

"What last time?"

"Always sixth grade, They never get past sixth."

"Grover," Percy said, because he was starting to get freaked out. I gripped his hand tightly. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."

This seemed like a strange request, but Percy promised him he could.

"Is this superstition or something?" he asked.

No answer.

"Grover-that snipping pf the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin. 


End file.
